Help please! FSX Install HELP!

[hifly 925]

For reasons too boring to go into here I have decided to re install FSX. Some questions, all replies in the simplest terms please.

 

1. Do I install in the (x86) files or elsewhere?

 

2. Do I need to have permission UACs etc?

 

3. Should I shut down and reboot after every add on download?

 

And any other useful installation info/tips would be gratefully received.

 

Sorry this is such basic stuff but I want to get this nailed down so I can get back to enjoying flying.

 

Thanks All.

[allardjd 1,853]

#1 - You're going to get a lot of opinions on that. Mine is in the default C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games and I have no problems.

#2 - You should "Run As Administrator". If you have a UAC level other than "None" set you may have to acknowledge some pop-up boxes but should still be able to install.

#3 - Don't know. I'm thinking creating restore points after each one might be worth doing.

Good luck. Never a fun thing to have to go through.

John

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

1 - install to D:\FSX (do not install on your system drive)

2 - Yes, Best if you completely disable UAC

3 - No, restart FSX itself after each pack installed; FSX, SDK, SP1,SDK SP1, Acceleration, SDK SP2

 

"And any other useful installation info/tips"

you’re kidding with that question; right?

[britfrog 180]

there is a lot of bull written about where you should locate the fsx directory ,  john is perfectly correct put in in (86) directory.  better brains than ours at LM have put P3D in the same location, i have run mine there since fsx came out with no problems at all. I have also put in on the c:/ fsx location and it makes no difference , so you may as well stick with the default location

 

To be honest when doing a complete reinstall it doesnt hurt to reboot after every install because there may be files in the temp directory that may get mixed up with another install

 

dont foget to defrag the drive or format it it if necessary before starting the install.

[brett 2,283]

I have mine in the Programs(x86), no problems that I can tell.

 

I disabled UAC for ease of use. I'm the only person on my PC and have other protections in place.

 

I re-started the computer during the initial FSX/Acel installs for each and any large installs too. AS Nigel says, better save than sorry but I have had no problems installing smaller aircraft files and scenery. If you have the time do a restart every once in awhile if your installing things for a whole day. Doesn't hurt to run FSX every one in awhile if you are installing new programs and addons you have never used before, just to make sure there are no compatibility problems.  

 

Take it slow and add things as you need them, FSX will load faster and run better. I'm sure we all have tons of stuff we do not even use for a long time.The more you dump in it, the slower it loads so enjoy flying during the lean times.  Good luck and Godspeed.

[hifly 925]

Thanks guys, for some reason I kept getting disc error checks every time I booted up, FSX started crashing/freezing, fatal errors, black areas of default scenery etc. wasn't sure if it was a hardware or software issue. Had the hardware checked, no problem there so rather than backtrack my add on downloads thought I'd do a fresh install. That done I'm gradually getting the important stuff installed, keyword, Quality.

 

To think I was considering going back to flower arranging or taking up golf.

 

Thanks again.  

[brett 2,283]

Taking up golf, are you a glutton for punishment?

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

i wasn’t going to say anything; but i can’t leave my friends uneducated on this matter

im just explaining few technical aspects; you each will do what you choose to do based on facts

 

the reason i suggested to install FSX outside the system drive is as follows

system drive (aka C:\Windows...) wherever this folder resides during installation

the install setup places allot of security policy's on anything around this folder and the partition it resides on

to start with everything residing on the same partition will sequentially get hardened security permissions

this is done as first measure to prevent unauthorized access to system files

because the new policies are so strict; they came up with the UAC crap

to help administrator when they need to manage system resources

the problem is in some cases; a process is trying to gain access to a folder on the drive

be it third party addon; or sometimes default process being denied access based on very complex security policy

the end result is no access; which could be very tricky to trace as there are no visual warnings

placing FSX on a different partition than the system is on; will prevent many headaches down the road

it’s  just a good practice due to changes that been going on the past few years

 

 

[stu7708 244]

Considering you are running Windows 7 I would, like Chris, opt to install FSX outside of "Program Files (X86)" for the reasons he states in the post directly above mine. 

 

And since any new folder on c:\ will inherit the rights from the root folder, that are limited but not as limited as in the Program Files folder, I'd also opt for installing on another drive unless you know how to change those permissions in windows.

 

Disabling UAC is something I've done, and I suspect that could minimize the issues with installing in "Program files", but it won't remove all of them...

 

If you have no add-ons running outside of FSX this also minimizes the impact of the restrictions put on the "Program files" folder, but once you have something running that needs to write into the FSX-folder, like a weather engine or a planner that can update the FSX flight plan on the fly (like Aivlasoft EFB), it will be asking for trouble to install to the default location...

 

 

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

Thank you Mikael

few clarification’s without getting too technical

FSX was designed under XP platform

XP operated under curtain security rules (think of our judicial system 20 years ago)

Over time process learned how to take advantage of holes to get their way (sound familiar?)

Next operating platforms than introduces additional restriction to overcome previous generations flaws, and so on

We are now fourth generation away with new restrictions since FSX was designed

FSX doesn’t know how to operate under those restrictions

We have to manually relieve those to allow FSX to run under these new platforms unbothered

The first best practice is to install FSX to a separate partition

You can than remove all inheritance restricting permission for the partition in general

And have a headache free sim installation from there on

I personally do this for myself on all my stations

As soon as im done installing my system drive (happens very very rarely)

I make a second unrestricted “D:\” partition with “D:\Program Files\” on it

(unrestricted means going to security tab of the drive right after its created/formatted,

and adding the user "everyone" to the list and giving it full control!

the sticklers like me will than remove other users from the list, and you’re done!)

i install about 90% of my software there!

personally i prefer installing FSX directly to “D:\FSX\”

(for other reasons i relocate my personal profile folder to that partition; between the two and UAC disabled I have 0 permission issues with anything)

[hifly 925]

Thanks everyone for your input here. I knew this would open a can of worms and to be honest is getting way above head due to my lack of computing knowledge.

 

As there is contradictory information above I will go my own sweet way and hope things work out OK.

 

I guess it's just a matter of horses for courses here.

 

But thanks again my friends for your time.

 

Bless You.

[jandjfrench 0]

Hi hifly,

I hope that everything has gone okay for you to this point. I'd like to share my experiences with a recent install in case it's of help to anyone else.

After installing Gold to an SSD close to a year ago I decided to install both Windows and Gold to a larger SSD. I did a clean install of Windows 7 64 pro.  Got all the drivers and updates taken care of.  i decided to install Gold to "C:\FS".  I install all of my flight sim related programs to this main folder; not for any performance considerations, it's just easy to remember.  I have the UAC at the recommended and didn't do anything special during the installation that wasn't specified by the install itself.  I didn't run as administrator, run the program at various stages, or anything else.  I did install the SDK to my original smaller SSD, which I had wiped clean of the original contents, per the procedure specified at FS Developer and when Tools did not appear I hand edited "dll.xml" to show the full paths to the ".dll"s.  No problems then or now.

Initially, I was concerned about space on the SSD but it bothered me that the SDK wasn't with the rest of programs so I decided to re-install it.  When I started the re-install it was going very slow and the drive sounded weird.  It turned out that a disc access program I had added after the initial install was causing problems due to some conflict with the way the FSX files are encoded on the disk.  I went into safe mode and copied all of my Gold files to an external HD and then after returning to normal mode installed the SDK again without problems.  I did run that SDKconfig program again but I think that only updates the registry as I recall I had to hand edit dll.xml again.

Jim F.

[hifly 925]

Well folks, after getting it back last week from my PC supplier with what they thought was a software issue and me starting a total reinstall it shut itself down  and would only reboot another drive with all our old stuff on it.

 

Turns out it was a dodgy power unit, now hopefully sorted and lots more reinstalls to do.  

[brett 2,283]

Haha, I mean bummer.   Why was it we like computers so much, if a friend treated us like this would we still be friends with them?

 

Glad you got it sorted out Geoff, good luck with the rest of the install.

[allardjd 1,853]

Could have been worse - could have been the drive.

 

John

[stu7708 244]

Good thing you got it sorted...

 

A dodgy PSU can be tricky to diagnose, as I've found out myself...

 

I've had that issue twice.. the first time I was lucky enough to have readings of the supplied voltage in the BIOS, but the supplier still questioned me when I contacted them...

 

The second time I ended up replacing both RAM and the video card before I tracked down the issue....

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

i had few funny ones that were traced to faulty PSU unit
it’s funny in hindsight; but when it goes down
and you end up swapping 4 Mobo (refurbished)over a month time
it’s not hilarious; but it is now

glad you sorted it out

now its time to go...

[hifly 925]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Luckily the whole kit is still under guarantee, the only pain is in the reinstalls and I'm slowly getting there. NE California here I come.